


What do you mean, there was another me?

by lomku



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: All is happy and light and fluffy in 2012, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe-2012 avengers, Alternate timeline - 2012 avengers, As you can see this is what happens in the 2012 timeline, Avengers Tower, Avengers team - Freeform, Confused Avengers, Confused Hydra, Confused Steve Rogers, Confused Tony Stark, Don't copy to another site, Everybody Lives, Gen, Humor, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, everybody is confused, idek, ill add more, loki is a little shit, slight angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-03-29 11:03:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19018609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lomku/pseuds/lomku
Summary: Steve is confused. How the hell did Loki know about Bucky?Tony doesn't understand. Why the hell did his arc reactor suddenly stop functioning?Thor is wondering. Where the hell are Loki and the Tesseract?Bruce is perplexed. When the hell did Hulk pay a visit to a woman in yellow?The 2012 Avengers have some serious questions after 2023 Avengers create havoc in their timeline. Confusion and hilarity ensues.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is an exploration of what happens in the 2012 timeline.  
> There is just so much potential for hilarious stuff.
> 
> Also, it's a way to feel happy after endgame. This is the chance to have our happy 2012 Avengers family, dammit!

Steve groaned and shifted. 

_What just happened?_

It all came back to him in a flash. The fight against Loki and his army, defeating Loki, seeing Stark disappear into the portal, then falling down again. Getting back to the ugly tower and arresting Loki, and then….

Search and rescue.

No, wait.

Then _Loki_ had shown up, and how had that happened? When Steve had gone down, he had been sure that Loki was shackled and harmless. 

Okay. Back on track. 

Loki had shown up, looking exactly like Steve, but without the cowl, and carrying the spear with him. 

Again, how was that even remotely possible? The spear had been taken care of by SHIELD, right?

Naturally, Steve had informed the Avengers that he had eyes on Loki and had engaged the fight.

It had been weird, to say the least, to fight against himself. Or, well, not himself really, but Loki impersonating himself. And why had the god even bothered keeping up the pretence after being discovered by Steve? It didn't make sense for the god, even if he was crazy, to not use his own battle techniques. Loki had even used Steve's own moves, making the experience even more surreal. 

It was one think to fight against your look-alike, and another to fight against your look-alike _who moved in exactly the same way you did_.

It was almost like fighting a mirror.

To be honest, Loki hadn’t made a really good job on his Steve-impersonation. The haircut was different, and somehow the trickster god had managed to make Steve look _older_. Steve was a little offended, to be honest. He didn’t look _that_ old, did he? Just because he was almost 100 years old didn’t mean he _looked_ like it, dammit. Also, the Captain America suit looked… off. Steve couldn’t really pin-point what made him think that, but he had the feeling there was something wrong.

There were so many small details that had differentiated the real Steve from Loki-Steve. Loki-Steve looked tired, for one. Well, more tired than Steve felt. Then again, maybe that was a side effect of being tossed around and slammed into the ground by the Hulk. Steve hadn’t been able to repress a wince we he had seen Loki lying in a freaking _crater_ in Stark’s penthouse. There were things you didn’t wish on your worst enemies. Then there had been Loki’s strange remark when Steve hadn’t been able to resist saying “I could do this all day.” The alien had reacted as if he _knew_ that this line was something Steve used to say all the time back in the day.

Right, so Loki and he had been fighting, and after falling through several stories and breaking an unholy amount of glass, Steve had managed to gain the upper hand.

Maybe he was gloating, but it felt right that the _real_ Steve would win against himself.

And then.

And then, Loki had choked out three small words.

Three small words, and his whole world had been turned upside down.

_Bucky is alive._

The shock had been so encompassing, that for a second, he hadn’t been able to think, his mind reeling. And he had made the mistake of loosening his hold on Loki.

Who had promptly used the goddamn spear on him, making him drop like a rock.

He only had hazy memories about an ass of America or whatever that was, and then nothing.

So here he was, head pounding, no Loki in sight, and with more questions than ever.

How did Loki know about Bucky?

Why did he say that Bucky was alive?

Had Loki been lying?

But why would he say such a thing?

Bucky couldn’t be alive, could he?

Steve had seen him fall, and no one could survive such a fall.

Bucky would never have survived the fall.

Except… _You’ve seen crazier stuff than that, Steve. Waking up in the future, flying suits of armour, monstrous green men, literal gods, aliens…_

Steve forcefully snuffed out the small spark of hope that was forming somewhere deep in his chest. He couldn’t afford to become sentimental with Loki on the loose. Again. Steve was beginning to think the god was playing with them.

He had to focus on the threat. Feelings could come later.

God, how long had he been out?

Had Loki started mind-controlling people again?

Steve, already walking towards the elevator and trying to get his communicator to work, stopped abruptly.

Why was _he_ not currently mind-controlled and attacking the Avengers or helping Loki in his attempt to take over the world?

It was preposterous. It didn’t fit with what Loki had been doing just a few hours earlier.

_Maybe the Hulk smashed his head so hard that he isn’t thinking straight anymore._

A traitorous part of his mind supplied that Loki had looked as sane as ever—or should he say not crazier than usual—when they had cuffed him in the penthouse.

The other explanation, of course, was that Loki had some kind of mischievous plan, and that that plan included leaving Steve be. Not that _that_ was alarming or anything.

Crap. He really needed to check in on the other Avengers.

As if summoned by his thoughts, the communicator device in his ear crackled to life. Before Steve could say anything, he heard the breathless voice of Stark.

“Cap, where are you? Loki just disappeared in another one of his fucking portals. He took the Tesseract.”

Loki had the Tesseract _and_ the spear? This was getting worse by the minute.

“I’m heading towards the central lobby. Where are you, Stark? Are you saying you let Loki disappear God knows where with both the Tesseract and the spear? How did that happen?”

There was a pause on the other end.

“Uhh… what do you mean ‘and the spear’? One moment, he was with us, tied up nice and cosy, and the other he was gone. With the Tesseract. Don’t ask me how he got it, I didn’t see shit, as I was busy having a fucking heart attack. Anyway, I’m better now, Thor helped me, I think he electrocuted me with his hammer, but hey, it worked, no complaints. But what did you mean by the spear? I just saw some SHIELD minions carry it outside.”

Steve nearly ran into the wall.

_What the hell is happening?_

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

This was the worst fucking day of Tony’s life. As if invading gods with alien armies weren’t enough, he had had to fly a fucking _nuke_ into space, die, be scared back to life by the Hulk, and when he thought they had finally won, he got a heart attack out of fucking nowhere and Loki escaped, _with the Tesseract._ He just wanted shawarma, for god’s sake!

Tony was sitting in the lobby, surrounded by paramedics and SHIELD agents. The Hulk had disappeared somewhere, most likely venting his frustration on innocent cars, judging by the screams and alarms sounding outside.

_Sigh. Just another thing I’ll have to pay for. The bill is going to be enormous. And I have the feeling Nick will let me pay for everything. I’m only a consultant when it’s convenient, eh? Bastard._

Thor had flown away somewhere as soon as they had realised that Loki was gone. Tony doubted Thor would be able to find his brother. Or was he adopted? Anyways. If Tony was in Loki’s place, he would have fucked off to India or something to lose his trail. Unless Point Break was all-seeing (and honestly, it wouldn’t even surprise him at this point), Loki was definitely lost.

Until Tony and Bruce tracked the Tesseract, that is.

Speaking of, why had this Pierce guy wanted the Tesseract so badly? It belonged to Asgard, even Tony knew that. But those SHIELD minions had even tried to pry the suitcase away from Tony’s hands. Rude!

And then, his arc reactor had given out. Just like that. When not five minutes before, Tony had made JARVIS scan it, revealing it to be in perfect condition.

What the actual fuck?

Tony would be lying if he said that he hadn’t been scared shitless when he felt the heart attack coming. He had been dumbfounded, too. One moment, he was trying to wrench the SHIELD goons hands off the suitcase, and the other he was collapsing to the ground, gasping for air and chest squeezing painfully.

And then, to complete his completely fucked up day, _Thor_ of all people had put his hammer on his chest. For a second, Tony had panicked even more, believing Thor was going to do something incredibly stupid like electrocute him or attempt CPR with his hammer. But the blond giant had, while smiling goofily and saying he had no idea if it was going to work (way to reassure someone, Thor), sent a small jolt of electricity to the arc reactor. And, miracle of miracles! It had worked.

Thor had used his hammer, the same thing that had smashed down alien leviathans, as a make-shift defibrillator. And somehow used just enough electricity to not fry Tony in the process.

Tony didn’t know if he should be impressed or horrified by all the things that could have gone wrong. But right now, he was feeling mostly grateful. Without Thor, Tony would have gone into cardiac arrest and most likely died, as JARVIS wasn’t entirely functional at the moment.

How the fuck had his life come to this?

Tony seriously needed to have a long talk with Thor. To thank him, of course, but also to learn more about the man. Tony had the suspicion Thor was more than the impulsive alpha male he had traded blows with and talked to at the helicarrier.

But that would have to wait. They still needed to do something about the Loki situation.

And it was just getting weirder and weirder. Tony had thought Loki was helpless, shackled and gagged. The god had looked like an extra in a weird fantasy BDSM mash-up. Kinky.

But Loki had been able to escape just like that, just by touching the Tesseract. Which led to the question: if it was so fucking easy for Loki to escape, why hadn’t he done so before? He obviously still had access to his magic. Did Loki _want_ to lose? Was this just like in the helicarrier, where he had let himself be jailed to learn more about his enemies? Something wasn’t adding up. Loki gave away the vibes of someone cunning and intelligent. But then he hadn’t acted like it. He had orchestrated an alien invasion, then given up after getting tossed around a bit by the Hulk. Tony suspected Loki was less hurt than he let them believe. So; Loki leads an invasion, loses, then lets himself be taken prisoner. Was there a point to all this? Because Tony sure couldn’t see any.

So that was another thing he had to think about.

And last but not least, he had to talk to the capsicle. Cap had, right when Tony was getting his heart attack, said something in the comms. Tony was positive Rogers had said something about having his eyes on Loki, which made absolutely _no sense at all_ , since Loki was with Thor and Tony. And then, when Tony wasn’t in immediate danger of dying anymore, and tried to contact the captain, he hadn’t responded. It was only on his fifth try in so many minutes that the captain answered to his calls. And then he had spouted something about the spear. Saying that Loki had the Tesseract _and_ the spear. Which was false, because Tony had seen a group of shifty looking SHIELD minions carry the box with the spear. After Loki disappeared.

Tony heard running steps, and turned just to see Rogers barrel down the lobby. When he was in front of Tony, he took off his cowl and ran a hand through his hair, panting.

“So, cap, where have you been? I thought you were doing search and rescue?”

“That was the plan, but I ran into Loki. He had the spear with him, so we fought. Did I mention he was looking exactly like me? I had the upper hand, but then he… he told me something and he knocked me out with the spear. How did he manage to get the Tesseract? And how did he escape?”

Tony stared at Rogers.

_Excuse me?_

There were so many things wrong with those sentences. Rogers had fought with Loki, while Loki was in custody with Thor. Loki had had the spear, but the spear was with SHIELD. And what the hell had Loki told Cap to make him break his concentration?

Tony rubbed at his temple. This was just getting more fucked up.

“Okay, winghead. There has to be some mistake here. Tell me in detail what you did and then I’ll do the same.”

Tony wished he had taken that drink.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is a lot of retelling, but I need the exposition before I can delve deeper into this universe. Also, SHIELD has the spear because 2023 Steve gave it back to Rumlow and co. Which means Rumlow and co believe cap to be Hydra, and have no idea why he took the spear only to give it back a few minutes later.  
> That's time-travel for ya!  
> Please leave comments :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops, last chapter was more than a month ago....

Bruce came to in the middle of an unfamiliar street. Of course, he was completely naked and surrounded by vaguely panicky people. He sat up, scratched his head, and wished Hulk would pick somewhere less public to shift back to his more human counterpart.

At least it didn’t look like he broke Harlem again.

_This time, aliens did it. Not much better._

He groaned and looked around for something to cover himself up, it would be really ironic to end up getting arrested for public indecency after saving the world from an alien invasion.

He grabbed a car door that was strewn on the road. It would have to do. Bruce didn’t look like it, but he was _strong_ , even in his human form. The Hulk had its perks.

_Look less indecent: check._

Now where the hell was he?

He made as if to ask one of the few civilians that hadn’t fled the scene, but decided against it. He didn’t really want to know if they would run away screaming from him. Instead, he tried to read any street sign.

_Bleecker Street_

Why was he there? He vaguely remembered hulking out to deal with the leviathans, and then pummelling Loki through the penthouse floor. _That was for making me hulk out on the helicarrier,_ Bruce thought with no small amount of vindication _._ And then, Hulk had actually _saved_ Stark. It was the first time Hulk helped somebody other than Betty. It was… unexpected. But nice. Definitely nice.

After that, Bruce had only the vivid imagery of stairs. For some reason, Hulk _hated_ stairs. And then Hulk had gone on a small rampage and ended up here. No, wait, there was something important about this street. What was it? Had Hulk seen something? No, maybe heard something?

**_Smell another Hulk._ **

Bruce froze. That…That hadn’t been his own thought. Was it…?

His mind reeled. Had he just hallucinated this, or was the Hulk _actually communicating_ with him? Could the Hulk speak? Wait, yes, Betty had said something along those lines. But forming a whole sentence was far more advanced than Bruce would have expected. Did that mean that the Hulk was awake somewhere in a corner of his mind? Could the Hulk see what he was seeing? Did he understand what Bruce was thinking?

**_Puny Banner ask too many questions._ **

_Oh my God. We can actually communicate. How come I don’t remember everything from when I hulk out? Is this schizophrenia? Why can you even talk?_

_…_

_Why did you never communicate with me before?_

**_Banner afraid._ **

There was an underlying emotion in those words, one that was too close to hurt for Bruce’s liking. Shit. If Hulk was more than a mindless creature… No, Bruce didn’t have the time to think about that. He needed to get back to Stark tower.

**_NO!_ **

The shout echoed in his mind, making Bruce (and, consecutively, a passer-by) jump.  What? Why not?

What had Hulk told him? Something about smelling another Hulk? But that was impossible. Or was Abomination on the loose? Bruce repressed a shiver. No one should have to become such a monster.

**_No. I smell Hulk. Me, but not me._ **

Well, that didn’t make any sense.

 

* * *

 

 

“Stark, Rogers, what’s going on?”

Natasha and Clint came running to where the two men were sitting on the ground, gesticulating and whispering furiously. At the sound of her voice, they looked up and Stark cried:

“Natashalie, Legolas, you need to hear this. Come closer!”

As they came closer, Rogers and Stark stood up and the brunette ushered them all back to the penthouse.

One tense ride in the elevator later, Stark made straight for the bar and poured himself a generous glass of scotch. The disapproving glare Rogers sent him didn’t go unnoticed by Natasha.

She understood. It couldn’t be healthy for Stark to be drinking right after his heart gave out. But then again, why was she surprised? He had acted just like that when he was dying from palladium poisoning.

After everyone had taken a seat on the dining table, Stark opened his mouth and spewed questions:

“Okay, spy kids, what do you know about the current situation? Where are Thor and Hulk? What is the status in SHIELD? Has Fury talked some sense into the asshats that decided nuking New York was a good idea? Do you have any leads on Loki?”

How Stark never got out of breath was a wonder.

Sensing Clint was still too distracted by the whole mind-control thing, Natasha answered for them both:

“Communications are down between the helicarrier and us. I think it might have to do with when I closed the wormhole. Fury will contact us as soon as he can. As for Thor and Hulk, your guess is as good as mine. I haven’t seen them since you took the elevator down with Loki.  Clint and I were coordinating the remaining SHIELD agents that wanted to get the staff. What about Loki? You broadcasted an emergency signal, so we came as fast as we could. What could possibly be an emergency after what we did today?”

“Were you too impatient to try shawarma, or what?” Clint sniggered.

Stark and Rogers glanced at each other.

What was happening?

Just as Rogers opened his mouth to clarify the situation, a deafening roar of thunder shook the tower. Seconds later, Thor came in through the balcony. His hair was wild and his eyes were grim.

“Fellow warriors! I have news about Loki.” Thor boomed, sitting down on a chair.

“I asked Heimdall to see where he fled to, but the all-seeing could not find my brother. I fear Loki has managed to shield himself from Heimdall, most likely with help from the Tesseract. Despair not, however, for it is certain Loki has not left this realm, nor the planet. He will not be able to leave Midgard without getting discovered by Heimdall.”

Clint paled noticeably and cleared his throat:

“Isn’t Loki in custody? We left him with you not ten minutes ago!”

Natasha was as confused as Clint looked. What had happened?

Stark and Thor looked down, both with sheepish looks.

“Uh, yeah. About that. Loki might have gotten away? I was carrying the suitcase with the Tesseract when my arc reactor failed. And, uh, while I tried not to die and Thor helped in said not dying, thanks for that by the way, Loki somehow got the Tesseract and vanished.”

Stark didn’t meet their eyes and tapped on his chest absently as he told them what had happened. He looked way too nonchalant for what he was telling. Didn’t he care that a deranged alien had escaped?

Clint, still too pale, shouted back: “I’m sorry, but how did you misplace _both_ Loki and the Tesseract? It was your job to escort him to a secure location!”

He was riling himself up, and that wouldn’t help the situation. Natasha put her hand on his arm, silently asking him to calm down.

There were too many variables at play, and Natasha needed an explanation right now. She turned to the captain, who had a determined but slightly confused look on his face.

“Rogers, status report.”

Ever the soldier, he complied.

“There is something fishy going on. Tony and I have compared what happened during our last hour and several things don’t add up. Thor, thank you for your information. We need to regroup and contact Director Fury about the next course of action. It won’t do us any good to rush out now, we need rest and more intel. Thor, find Banner and bring him back here. Stark, we need all information you have on the Tesseract and what exactly happened with Loki. Widow, Hawkeye, I will tell you what Stark and I know. Go.”

As Thor departed with an “Aye, Captain!” and Stark disappeared somewhere while muttering about rebooting JARVIS and getting video surveillance, Rogers told Natasha and Clint about the whole mess.

And what a mess it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the avengers will get answers to their questions, as soon as JARVIS is up again :P


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im trying to distract myself from that deleted scene from endgame.........

 

The elevator ride down was fast but silent. Tony really needed to get JARVIS up and running again.

Down in the workshop, Tony was relieved to see that nothing had been damaged or had fallen over due to the fight on the upper levels of the tower. Small mercies. He absently patted DUMM-E on the head and continued over to the main computer terminal.

“Okay, let’s see… Power on, save recordings, recover corrupted data, system reboot…”

Ten minutes later, JARVIS was fully functional again.

“J, everything looking good?”

- **I believe I am running at full capacities, sir. There seems to have been a malfunction during the last hour’s security camera footage, however. Shall I troubleshoot?-**

“Go ahead, maybe it was caused by interference from Loki’s magic or something.”

**-Unlikely, sir. The footage is very peculiar, but not due to any unhabitual energy readings.-**

Tony had to pause at that. What could JARVIS qualify as peculiar after the day they’d had?

“Show me.”

Several holographic screens popped up, showing different levels of the tower. One was showing the penthouse, another one of the office floors, and the last one showed the lobby. Tony decided to start with the lobby screen, since it was showing the moment Tony got his heart attack.

It was weird, watching himself fall to the ground and choke on his breath. One moment he had been fine, and the other he was a writhing mess. Tony really needed to check his arc reactor, for all he knew, it could fail again anytime.

_Not now, Stark. You’ve got more important things to do._

As he detachedly watched himself from 30 minutes ago lie on the ground, his attention was caught by a sudden movement on the floor. What was it?

“Jarvis, rewind, five seconds.”

While the SHIELD agents and Thor were trying to help Tony, the case containing the Tesseract suddenly skidded on the ground, right towards a lone SHIELD agent. The agent then picked up the case, looked around, and started walking briskly towards the door for the staircase, but just as he put his hand on the door handle, the door slammed into him, leaving way for an angry Hulk shouting something about stairs. The mysterious agent was knocked out cold, the case slipping from his hands and opening right next to Loki. The god promptly picked up the Tesseract and disappeared in a portal.

Well, at least that explained how Loki had gotten hold of the Tesseract. But the video honestly led to more questions than answers. How the fuck had the case gotten to the agent? Nobody had even touched it, but it had skidded several metres, nonetheless. Additionally, only Loki had noticed that at the moment, expression clearly surprised. So it wasn’t Loki. But who, or what? And who was this agent? How did he know what was in the case? What had he planned to do?

Tony watched the video again, this time focusing on the agent. He had been loitering around in the lobby, obviously waiting for the Avengers. More alarming, however, was that he seemed to talk to someone through a comm. Which meant he wasn’t alone.

_Shit. I really didn’t need any more players in this fucked up game._

But what was even weirder was that he hadn’t seemed surprised _at all_ when Tony had fallen to the ground. Had he somehow known that the heart attack would happen? Or worse, had he been the cause of the attack?

He needed to find this man. Unfortunately, the agent had slipped out of the lobby after regaining consciousness, which meant Tony would have to ask JARVIS to access to public cameras, which would take hours due to the disturbance caused by the alien invasion. At least the agent had lost his helmet and goggles when he fell, showing his face to the cameras. That was about the only thing going for Tony right now.

Okay. Next video.

That one showed Captain America, walking out of an elevator, with an oblong suitcase in his hand. That had to be Loki with the spear. He was _also_ talking to someone! What the fuck? Had Loki managed to snatch a comm before he disappeared? The audio was too damaged to hear what he was saying. That was something Tony would have to fix immediately, right after he got a better picture of what the hell was happening.

Tony thought back to the conversation he had had recently with Rogers.

“JARVIS, was this before or after Loki disappeared with the Tesseract?”

**-10 seconds before Loki disappeared, sir. It is most unsettling.-**

Could Loki have had a double during all that time? But why would he have done that? And didn’t he get knocked unconscious by the Hulk? Surely then his magic must have stopped? Or had he managed to make a double right before the Avengers captured him? And why was there no video evidence of that?

_What the fuuuuuuuuuck_

 

The rest of the video wasn’t so interesting, apart from the fact that Loki said he wasn’t Loki (but who else could it be? It’s not as if there were multiple Steve Rogers), and that when a compass fell out of Loki’s pocket, it caused Cap to hesitate. What was even more confusing, however, was how Rogers let go of Loki after the latter grit something out. What could he _possibly_ have said to trigger such a strong reaction? Cap needed to tell the team what it was, it had to be something important. Then Loki knocked him out with the spear and left.

“Timeline at the end, J?”

**-The impostor leaves the tower two minutes after Loki has vanished.-**

Great. So that didn’t make any sense either.

On to the last video.

It started with the Avengers taking Loki into custody, bantering and walking around waiting for the SHIELD teams. Okay. But nothing had happened at that point.

"JARVIS, what exactly is weird here?”

The AI sounded frustrated somehow: **-If you would look behind the fireplace, there is something…strongly peculiar.-**

So Tony looked. Nothing out of the ordinary. But then…

Tony looked again.

And again.

Finally, he paused the video, and asked JARVIS to zoom in on what was, undeniably, _his own face_. Spying on the Avengers. But that wasn’t the worst part. Because he was talking to someone, then he flicked something off his shoulders (mini drone? Listening device? Mini camera?) right on the Tesseract. And then, not-Tony tapped on his chest, making something crawl over his body, and just…jumped out of the window. The window that was on the 68th floor of the tower. Just like that. No problem, no siree.

 

…This was worth a reiteration: _What in the everlasting fuck?_

It wasn’t enough with two Steve Rogers, there had to be two Tony Starks as well?

Tony needed to sit down, possibly drink something strong, then give in to the urge to laugh like a maniac.

So he was maybe getting a bit hysterical. Could you blame him, though?

He plopped down on the couch, putting his head in his hands.

_WhatthefuckWhatthefuckWhatthefuckWhatthefuckWhatthefu_

His vocabulary was a bit limited at the moment, as you could see. He was beginning to feel like a broken record.

Tony looked up at the videos, took a deep breath, and addressed JARVIS:

“Find everything you can on the agent, not-Rogers, not-me and Loki. I want videos, sound recordings, anything. And call for the team to assemble ASAP in the most secure conference room of the tower. _And get me Fury on the line!_ ”

He hated _everything_ about this already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit is really starting to hit the fan, guys ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am, posting a new chapter more than a month later....  
> whoops

 

Clint was barely repressing the urge to slam his head against the table, repeatedly. He wasn’t in his best mood, and judging by the fact everyone but Natasha kept a good distance away from him, it must have shown on his face.

Or maybe they didn’t trust him not to fall prey to another episode of mind-control fuelled rampage.

 _God_.

He didn’t want to think about it.

He couldn’t.

Clint had been compromised, and nobody knew if it was a one-time thing or not. Correction: _one_ person knew. But Loki was gone. Poof, vanished.

But he was _still on Earth_ , instead of rotting away in a prison on Asgard.

Clint had been _so_ looking forward to that fucking shawarma, dammit! He was tired, aching all over, from exertion and the various bruises and cuts he got from the fight. He just wanted to rest, to eat something, and then maybe try to forget that he had been brain-controlled for the last few days.

But no, fucking Thor and Stark couldn’t even keep an eye on Loki when the god was shackled, and instead he was now on the loose fuck knows where and with the Tesseract to top it off.

Clint had seriously considered putting an arrow in Stark’s leg when the billionaire had said they had let Loki escape, not even looking repentant. Didn’t Stark understand how fucked they could be? Loki could just open another portal and then everything would start anew. And now that Loki knew more about his opponents, he could prepare himself and just mind-control new people or even take back his old puppets and—

_Stop it, Clint. Focus. Breathe in, breathe out._

Shit. He couldn’t get lost in his head like that. If any of the SHIELD agents noticed, he would get benched for sure, and that was really not what he needed. Talking about SHIELD, why had they not contacted Clint or Natasha yet?

Clint turned towards Natasha, but before he even opened his mouth, a smooth voice called out, making Clint twitch in surprise:

**— All Avengers are expected in conference room B-24, on floor 13, for further information about recent developments.—**

Cap looked around in bewilderment, no doubt trying to find the source of the voice, but Natasha only raised an eyebrow. Did she know that person?

“This is JARVIS, Stark’s AI. Artificial Intelligence, Cap.”

That explained that, then. But why did JARVIS have a British accent? Was it just another of Stark’s quirks?

The Captain, who had recovered from his initial surprise, stood up from where they had been seated at the table and tilted his head, listening to his comms. He looked a bit like a golden retriever, head tilted like that.

Three seconds later, Thor arrived with a clap of thunder and Banner in his arms. If the man was feeling as tired as he looked, it was a miracle he was even awake. He had a car door in his hands, for some reason.

Thor dropped Banner a few feet from the table, and the voice spoke again, startling Thor and Bruce this time. The doctor even jumped a bit.

**—Good day, I am Mr. Stark’s AI, JARVIS. Thor, Dr. Banner, you are expected in the conference room B-24, floor 13. Doctor, if you would, I could direct you to the nearest dresser to help you find more… _suitable_ garments.—**

That seemed to make Banner blush. Huh.

He quickly acquiesced, and disappeared down a corridor, following the AI’s disembodied voice.

Thor looked around at the rest of the Avengers, and boomed:

“Well, shall we go?”

And that was that.

Five minutes later, all Avengers sans Stark were seated in a spacious conference room, waiting. Banner was now wearing jeans and a Led Zeppelin T-shirt, not looking very comfortable in these clothes. The man the clothes belonged to breezed in a few minutes later. He was not looking particularly well either. There was a manic expression on his face, and his brows were furrowed, eyes darting around before settling on a point above everyone’s heads.

When he was seated, Stark muttered something and immediately, the conference room began sealing itself. The door locked with an audible click before metallic shutters came down, covering the windows and the door. When the room was sealed, a blue light turned on above the door.

The whole process had taken less than two seconds.

Stark then stood up again, starting to pace restlessly.

“I sealed the room, no one will be able to spy on us or listen in or anything, the best surveillance devices won’t be able to get anything from this room. Now, I’m only doing this because JARVIS showed me something really fucking crazy. And I think you’ll agree with me when I say it’s better no one apart from us sees this for the time being. Okay. Hold on to your horses, folks.”

And with those _not_ reassuring _at_ _all_ words, Stark made a flourish with his hand and several holographic screens popped up from seemingly nowhere, each with footage from the tower.

Stark paced some more, then seemed to remember what he was doing, jerked to a halt, and made the videos start playing.

What Clint saw next was one of the weirdest shits he had ever seen, including the fiasco from last days.

He could feel his eyes growing wider and wider as he took in what the videos were showing.

It was just… absurd. It didn’t make any sense. Not the actual footage, not the timestamps, nothing. If he was to believe this, Loki was only one of their concerns. There were whole new fucking players on the table, and these people shouldn’t even _exist_.

The urge to slam his head against the table was growing stronger with each passing second.

The other Avengers weren’t taking the videos well, either. Thor was frowning and making incredulous faces, Cap had his eyes and mouth wide open, Banner was rubbing his forehead and had a pained look, and Natasha’s face was the blank mask she adopted when she was truly surprised.

Stark had started pacing again, muttering to himself (or maybe to the AI?) with twitching fingers.

When all three videos had played several times, they paused simultaneously, leaving the room dead silent.

Clint looked around, and exclaimed:

“What the fuck?”

“Yeah, my sentiments exactly, Merida,” Stark responded, exhaustion creeping in his voice. He stopped his pacing, put his hands in his pockets, then out again. Jheeze, the man was fucking _restless_. Was he always like that?

“Okay, so you’ve all seen the footage, and no, we’re not going insane, JARVIS sees the same thing. There are tons of questions that we can ask ourselves, and right now, we have no answers. JARVIS is recovering as much data about this as possible. Videos, photos, sound recordings, messages, mails, posts on social media, anything. But for now we only have footage from the tower, without audio. We’re doing our best to fix that, but you can guess that there are a lot of things that aren’t working at hundred percent in the tower right now, what with the whole space portal and invading aliens schtick. Yeah, so we’re waiting for that, but meanwhile, maybe one of you has something to add.”

Wow, Stark rambled like no other.

Cap, who had schooled his face into determination, cleared his throat.

“This is…this complicates things. If the timeline is correct, Loki wasn’t alone. The group of doppelgangers likely worked together, but we don’t know if they’re working with Loki or not. I would guess they were a separate group who were after the Tesseract and the spear. Stark, your artificial intelligence, JARVIS, is it in the whole tower?”

A strange emotion passed on Stark’s face when Steve mentioned the AI, but it smoothed over before Clint could decipher what it was. The genius responded in a flippant tone:

“Yeah, _he’_ s where I am. In the armour, too.”

(“he”? Did Stark consider JARVIS as more than a machine?)

“So why didn’t it— _he_ tell us something when those men entered the tower?”

“Well, because—”

Stark’s jaw clicked shut, his eyes widening slightly. He ran a hand through his hair and looked at a corner in the room.

“JARVIS? Why?”

There was a tense silence.

**—Sir, it seems I was hacked a few seconds prior to the individuals entering the building. They locked away any information on them, rendering them effectively invisible to my main body. I regained access to that information when you rebooted me.—**

Well _that_ didn’t sound good.

Clint eyed Stark, and drew in a breath when he saw how pale the man had become. He had stilled, unnaturally so, a stark (pun intended) contrast to how he was just moments ago.

The billionaire visibly swallowed, and forcibly relaxed his body.

“Ha—hacked? Any known signature?”

**—I… Sir—it should—I don’t understand—**

The AI sounded surprisingly human, stuttering out words like it was at a loss.

“Tell me, J.”

**—All indicators point towards the fact that sir hacked me. The signature and style match to 95%.—**

It was Stark’s turn to stutter. He somehow managed to lose even more colour on his face, staggered a few steps away from the table, and leaned heavily against the wall.

“That’s not—that’s impossible. No one—no one can hack J like that, but I didn’t— _Oh god_.”

And with those words, Starks eyes rolled up and he collapsed to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: Tony passes out at least once in all my fics :')
> 
> please comment, it makes my day :D


	6. Chapter 6

For a full ten seconds, no one moved, stunned into utter silence. Had Stark just…fainted? It didn’t add up in Steve’s head. One moment, the genius had been rambling at a hundred miles an hour, and now he was lying in a heap on the floor.

Thor was the first one to shake himself out of the stupor and he got up from his stool, briskly paced the few steps to Stark and crouched next to the unconscious man, checking his vitals. Then, very carefully, he picked the man up in a bridal carry, turning towards the rest of the Avengers.

“Brothers and sister in arms, it seems the man of iron is not well. What should we do?”

Hearing Thor finally snapped Steve out of his shock. He stood up as well, casting a quick glance at Banner. Maybe he would be able to help…

 

* * *

 

 

Sir had collapsed, just as JARVIS had feared would happen. It was the only logical conclusion of the day’s events. Sir had slept far too little in the last 72 hours, and his battle injuries in addition to the heart attack only added to the stress sir’s body was subjected to. Not to mention the brief stay in space.

It had been one of the worst moments of JARVIS’s existence. The suit had disconnected when it flew through the portal, leaving him in the dark when it came to what was happening to sir. JARVIS had felt (could he even feel emotions, or was his programming just simulating them?) the same dread as when sir had been kidnapped. He had tried to reconnect with the suit 346 times during the minute sir had been in space, all to no avail. But it had been worse when the armour had fallen out of the portal, sir unresponsive inside it. JARVIS had tried waking him up with auditive and visual stimulations, he had even sent a slight jolt of electricity to shock him back to consciousness, but sir hadn’t even stirred. The AI had only been able to monitor his readings, the flat line of his heartbeat and the absence of respiration.

It had been horrible, being right next to his creator but not being able to do a single thing to save the man.

And then sir had been scared back to life by the Hulk. JARVIS still wasn’t sure how that had happened.

Sir hadn’t rested once after that, much to JARVIS’s chagrin. Not even after suffering a mild heart attack, which was beyond irresponsible. But of course, Tony had not payed heed to JARVIS’s admonishments, instead wanting to understand how Loki had managed to escape. JARVIS knew that Loki was high priority, but the Avengers team was clearly exhausted and needed to rest and regroup before jumping into the next battle.

However, it seemed that sir didn’t have the luxury to ignore his body’s needs anymore, as he was still unconscious, and now the team was alerted to his precarious health.

The problem, however, was that JARVIS didn’t know if he could trust the team with sir’s safety. They had worked astonishingly well on the field, but their first hours on the helicarrier had been less than stellar. JARVIS had listened to the team members snipe at each other, look down on each other, and generally act as petty children. JARVIS had really not liked Captain Rogers comments on sir’s life. What _right_ did he have, to judge sir after watching a few videos, having the gall to say that he only fought for himself, when all that sir had done since becoming iron man was trying to atone for his past? How _dare_ he say that sir wasn’t worth anything? That he was nothing without his suit of armour? When he was the one who had _built_ the suit? And no-one in the room had defended sir.

JAVIS was not happy that Rogers was the team leader, and absolutely did not trust him to be alone with sir.

He was not happy either that the deceiving Black Widow was part of the team, after the assessment she had made of sir. If JARVIS could scoff, he would have had when he read the report on sir. Iron Man: Yes, Tony Stark: Not recommended? Had she forgotten sir _was_ iron man?

Hawkeye was a complete stranger to sir, there was thus not a chance that JARVIS would trust him with sir.

Thor and Dr.Banner were the best candidates. Sir and Thor’s first encounter had been dubious at best, but the god had saved sir’s life when he had gotten the heart attack in the lobby, which proved to JARVIS that Thor had sir’s best interests at heart. Or, at least, that he didn’t want sir to die.

Dr.Banner had seemed to respect sir for his scientific knowledge, had even sided with him in a few arguments. He seemed likely to develop a friendship with sir, and had basic medical knowledge, making him the best candidate for taking care of sir.

All of JARVIS’s musings had taken less than a microsecond, allowing him to interfere before the captain took matters into his own hands.

 

* * *

 

 

**—Avengers, if you will, I will handle sir’s recovery, seeing I am the one he’s most familiar with. I would like for Thor and Dr. Banner to go to the medbay on level 50. Other Avengers, please remain seated.—**

The voice in the ceiling spoke in a tone that brokered no argument. Thor cast a glance at the Captain, but the man didn’t contradict the instructions, so Thor shrugged and walked out of the room, still carrying the man of iron, with the doctor on his heels. The journey to the medbay was silent.

When they arrived at the medbay, the doctor followed Jarvis’s instructions and connected Stark to several beeping machines and a bag of fluid. Thor assumed it contained nutriments, or pain relievers. He didn’t know if he should stay, but Jarvis had not said anything about his continued presence yet.

To be honest, Thor was worried about Stark. The man had valiantly fought during their battle against the Chitauri, risking his life multiple times. He had seen the man of iron fly into space and come back unconscious and barely alive. And then, when they had thought the fight was over, Stark had fallen prey to an ailment of the heart. Thor had rushed to help, and thankfully was able to restart the machine protecting Stark’s heart.

Thor knew men that would have collapsed from sheer exhaustion long before Stark did. It was truly remarkable that the man had stayed awake for so long, seeing as he was one of the few non-enhanced fighters on the Avengers team.

After waiting a few minutes, Stark showed signs of waking. He stirred, blinked a few times, then sat abruptly upright, looking lost.

“What—Where am I?”

Banner was quick to respond: “You lost consciousness, Mr. Stark. Jarvis sent us here.”

If Thor hadn’t been looking closely at Stark’s face, he might have missed the fleeting spark of shame that those words elicited. Was Stark ashamed of fainting? Or was he ashamed of appearing weak?

The man in question looked around, as if to make sure there was nobody else in the room, and flashed a smile.

“Thank you, very kind of you. I don’t know why this happened, maybe I didn’t eat enough or something, but I’m feeling better already, so I think I will just get out this bed so that we can go back on finding—”

The AI interrupted ruthlessly:

**—You will not, sir. You need to heal from your injuries and general mistreatment of your body. Rest is also strongly recommended after suffering a heart attack. Furthermore, may I remind you that you have slept only five hours in the last three—**

“Mute!”, Stark shouted, looking slightly panicked, but the AI had gotten his point across. Stark was in far worse condition than he wanted the Avengers to believe.

_Why does he hide his injuries? A warrior should be proud of them._

Thor realised there was a lot to Stark that he didn’t understand.

With a look from Dr. Banner, Thor advanced and placed a firm hand on Stark’s shoulder, preventing him from leaving the bed. The man shot him a betrayed look, but let himself relax against the cushion, resigned to the fact that he was trapped.

The doctor drew nearer and started examining Stark more meticulously, all the while talking quietly:

“Your AI is right, you know. You need to rest and let yourself get checked over by a real professional, not just me. You have been to space in a suit that was clearly not made for space travel, and you got a heart attack to top it off. And if you really haven’t gotten any sleep in the past three days, you have every reason to stay here.”

Stark grumbled a bit, but he was surprisingly pliant when Banner cleaned his wounds and bandaged the ones that were still bleeding. He had a lot of wounds, most of them which had been hidden beneath his shirt and trousers.

How had Thor not realised that he was in pain?

 

* * *

 

Downstairs, the remaining Avengers waited in uneasy silence until Thor barged in again. He told them of Stark’s condition and that he should remain in the medical aisle for at least a day. That surprised Steve, who had assumed that Stark had not contracted serious injuries during the fight, since he had acted as if he was all right, not showing any signs of pain or fatigue. He drew in a surprised breath when he heard that Stark hadn’t slept the last few days. Why hadn’t he slept?

Widow answered that for him:

“So when he said he’d become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics last night…he was meaning that literally.”

Of course.

Stark needed to rest, but he wasn’t the only one. Now that Steve had been seated for a longer time, his body was telling him how sore and tired it was. And judging from Hawkeye’s and Black Widow’s postures, they could benefit from some rest too.

How had he not seen that before one of his team members literally collapsed on the ground?

It was urgent for the team to recover, Steve could see that now.

Loki and the mysterious doppelgangers would have to wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, I guess JARVIS is being a bit overprotective...
> 
> Please leave kudos and comments, the comments always make me very happy :D  
> <3


	7. Chapter 7

He hated to admit it, but he had really needed to rest. Lying in the bed, the sheets felt heavenly against his skin. Banner and Thor had left the room, presumably to update the Avengers about his status. And wasn’t _that_ embarrassing. Fainting like some over-excited schoolgirl talking to her crush. The worst part was that he had done that in front of the whole team. _Good luck in convincing them you’re worthy of a permanent position on the Avengers_ , he thought bitterly. He couldn’t do anything good without fucking it up, could he? Fucking hell.

Now that he had showed how weak and pathetic he was, there was no chance they’d even give him a chance. But then again, after the words from Cap on the helicarrier, he doubted his fainting made a difference.

It was always the same, wasn’t it? Tony was never good enough, always compared to his father and found lacking. Even with Iron Man, people clearly liked to draw a line between Iron Man and Tony. After all, he was _Tony Stark, not recommended_.

Was it possible to feel resentful towards your own suit of armour?

He sighed, shifting a bit in his bed. Well, if he was going to be bedridden for the next day or so, he should find something to do. He called JARVIS.

“J, is there a phone or tablet somewhere arou—”

And that was the moment a very worried Rhodey barged in.

“Tony! I flew back as soon as I could, I saw the footage with the missile, what in the goddamn hell were you thinking? And why are you in bed, what’s JARVIS saying about a heart-attack? Are you alright?” He pulled Tony into a fierce hug, slightly crushing his ribs in the process. Tony didn’t mind in the slightest.

When Rhodey let him go, Tony looked him in the eyes and felt his body relaxing even further. Someone having his back was… exactly what he had needed. No offense to JARVIS, but sometimes he needed someone material he could rely on. Rhodey was looking as healthy as ever, still in his flight suit. His eyes had slightly a frantic glint in them, but that was the norm when Tony got himself in dangerous situations.

“Sit down, honey bear, you’re tiring me.” Tony smiled, gesturing to the chair in the corner. “So, how was Hong Kong?”

Rhodey sighed, sitting down and scooting the chair closer to the bed.

“It started out as a hostage situation, but then this weaponised nuclear tank got added into the mix. Fought it, threw it into the ocean, defeated the Ten Rings, the usual. What about you, though? Those aliens were more than a ‘slight problem’. I came as fast as I could, but everything was done by the time I got to New York. I only knew where to look for you because JARVIS contacted me. How are Pepper and Happy? You heard from them yet?”

Oh shit. Tony knew he had forgotten something.

Oh _shit_. Pepper had never responded to his phone call when he... What if… Please, god, no—

**—Miss Potts is currently en route from the airport, Mr. Hogan is with her. I took the liberty of assuring them of your relatively good health.—**

_Thank god for meddling AI’s._

Tony exhaled, closing his eyes in relief. They were safe. Everyone was safe and accounted for. Thank god.

Rhodey relaxed too, patting Tony on the leg. He looked at him in earnest then, taking in the dark bags under his eyes, the slight slump of his shoulder and the bruises forming. The glow from the arc reactor was seeping through the covers, but it seemed less bright than usual. _Something bad happened, didn’t it, Tony?_ , Rhodey mused.

“How are you, Tones?” The _honestly_ was left unsaid.

Tony smiled half-heartedly. He didn’t even know, to be honest. So fucking much had happened in the last days. The sudden realisation that there were aliens, that some of them were literally gods, then the attack on New York and the sheer craziness of it all. To top it off, there had been the nuke, and then the shitshow with Loki disappearing and the doppelgangers walking around the tower. Not to mention that JARVIS had been _hacked—_

“I’m fine, platypus. A little beat up, but nothing some rest won’t fix. I’m alive.” He was aiming for a joking tone, but Rhodey saw right through him.

“Come on, Tony. Tell me, please.”

He lowered his eyes, trying to get past the sudden lump in his throat.

“I uh…I— my suit’s not designed for space travel.”

He laughed mirthlessly.

“At least I survived.”

Well. He was alive. That was good enough for now.

“And… My arc reactor malfunctioned.” Tony almost whispered.

Rhodey was instantly on him, worry etched on his face: “Your reactor? Is it better now? Should I help you change it? What can I do?”

Tony waved him off: “It’s fine, I made JARVIS run the usual tests. I’m not in danger.”

Rhodey seemed only slightly mollified, still hovering close to Tony. He had the look on his face that promised that they weren’t done with this conversation yet, but that he would let it go _for now_.

_Yes, I can recognize his specific look for that, we’ve known each other for over 20 years._

Tony was grateful that Rhodey had indulged him, he was really not feeling up for retelling what had happened. It was still a little bit too fresh, the empty darkness enveloping him, cutting him from the world, the stifling silence with only the thin hull of his suit between the void and his fragile body, his eyes fixed on the endless army of monsters heading for—

Tony blinked the images away and willed his hands to stop trembling. Yeah, he was going to get nightmares from that. Rhodey was looking weirdly at him again, and Tony didn’t know how he would explain his latest trauma to his best friend, let alone make him understand what he had felt, what he had _understood_ in that moment.  Earth was so hopelessly outgunned it wasn’t even funny. This wasn’t over yet, Tony knew it. There was something, _someone_ out there that was coming for them.

But that particular nightmare scenario would have to wait until he fixed the more pressing matter of the disappearance of Loki and the case of the body doubles. God, that just sounded like a weird _Sherlock_ episode. He had to tell Rhodey about it, maybe he would have an explanation that didn’t involve magic or other bullshit, because Tony was at a loss.

Of course, before he could say anything, the Capsicle decided to enter. He had a slightly apologetic look, as if he knew that he was disturbing them, but his shoulders were squared. Tony just hoped he wasn’t there for another shouting match. He smiled a winning smile at the captain:

“Let me introduce you. Rhodey, this is Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America, you know, the one who crashed in the ice seventy years ago. Captain, this is my long-time friend James Rhodes, Air Force Colonel.”

Rhodey gaped at Rogers, clearly trying to get his head around what Tony had just said. Rogers straightened up immediately and dropped into parade rest of all things. He cleared his throat and looked straight at Rhodey: “A pleasure to meet you, sir.”

Tony grinned at the dumbfounded look on Rhodey’s face. Not every day a literal legend calls you sir. _Guess military ranking is good for at least one thing_ , Tony thought.

To his credit, Rhodey recovered quickly, and held out his hand. “The pleasure is all mine, Captain.” They shook hands, a very manly handshake, and that was that. The Captain turned to Tony then, and spoke.

“First of all, I wanted to apologize for not realising that you—the team needed rest. We’ve halted our researches, and your artificial intelligence directed us to guest rooms. I just wanted to see with you if you were okay with that, and, well, to….”

“You’ve seen me,” Tony interrupted, “so you can clear your conscience. I’m not one your soldiers, you don’t have a responsibility over me. I’m fine, see? And yes, you can stay in the tower, it’s easier than you going back to SHIELD headquarters or whatever. It’ll take hours before the one-eyed pirate shows up anyways. So, what do you say? A good night’s sleep, and we continue on ‘where’s alien waldo’ tomorrow?”

Rogers frowned slightly, but nodded curtly, already turning on his heels. _Good_ , Tony thought, _I don’t want him anywhere near me anyways._

“Team meeting at 10:00 tomorrow in the same conference room you showed us the footage in,” was the last thing Tony heard before Rogers closed the door.

He thumped his head on the pillow, avoiding Rhodey’s eyes. The man had undoubtedly noticed that Tony was being more of an asshole than usual, but Tony had no intention of explaining things right now. To be honest, a good night’s sleep sounded wonderful.

“Okay… I have to report to my superiors, but I’ll be back as soon as I can, and you better tell me _everything_ that happened when I get here again,” Rhodey said. He gave Tony’s shoulder a squeeze and stood up. He walked to the door and turned around, smiling slightly.

“I’m glad you’re ok, man. Take care of yourself, and if you don’t… JARVIS, please take care of him for me, yeah? “

**—Always.—**

“See you, platypus.” Tony smiled at him, glad that his friend had taken the time to check on him. When Rhodey left, Tony asked JARVIS to call for one of his personal doctors.

The medic came after half an hour, checked over Tony’s wounds and tended to them. When he was done, he broke his professional silence to say “Thank you for what you did today, Mr. Stark. Thank you.” He left before Tony could say anything.

Then minutes later, Tony was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt a bit bad when I saw that I hadn't posted anything on this chapter in over a month.... I'm just so busy with my other stories.  
> Anyways.
> 
> I need your help: would you like to see more Rhodey in this story? Since everything in this story is canon-divergent from the avengers movie, I'm up for any suggestions! :D   
> Also, did you notice Tony is being a real asshole to Steve? I wonder if that will change later... ;)
> 
> And last: I'm participating in this year's Marvel Trumps Hate (MTH). If you'd like a fic from me, this is your opportunity! All the money will go to charity! 
> 
> please comment <3

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments and kudos if you liked it!  
> [come talk to me on tumblr](https://oluka.tumblr.com)


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